4/24 Instance: Ultimate Beginnings

[tears~fall~like~glass]

Miles: His iPod's volume was at full blast with his earbuds crammed deep into his ears. Miles was beat-boxing quietly to himself to the song "Niggas in Paris" by Jay-Z and Kanye.

Miles: With his head bobbing and his fingers tapping his legs, he stood apart from the group of those waiting for the train, deep under the city. He hated the subway. It felt inefficient, but it was the life of a city dweller. He sighed.

Johnny: Crossing his arms, Johnny shifted impatiently as he waited for the train. This was probably his least favorite part of the city - waiting for the damn train. He hated waiting. It was so, so boring.

Moe: Moe Ellis watched the doofus kid beatbox with his iPod out. What a dummy. He could snag it faster than the kid could snap back to say "Hey whoa, my jams!" He snerked as he thought of various insults. Hipster. Tween. Poser. He thought a few times about it and then saw a busty woman wearing Coach... well everything. Including holding a Coach purse. Now that... that was easy to grab.

Johnny: Johnny sighed heavily and leaned a bit to look down the tunnel every so often, hoping to see lights or some sign that the wait would be over. And, darkness was all there was... Again. He cast a glance around, making mental notes of people he'd probably want to avoid.

Moe: "Now or never..." Moe told himself. He quickly burst forward and reached for the bag. He snatched it and pushed the woman back. He turned for the stairs.

Miles: It was here that Miles looked up. "Whoa!" He pulled his earphones out and stepped back. But the words of his father rang in his ears, Always do right even when it feels wrong.... He took a breath, stepped in front of the man and held out his arms. "Dawg!"

Moe: Moe rolled his eyes and picked the kid up with one hand and threw him away.

Miles: Miles yelped and skidded on the pavement, over the edge, and onto the tracks.

Johnny: Johnny glanced over at the commotion and debated whether or not to go after the bag snatcher until he noticed the kid thrown onto the tracks. Pushing past people, he started to head that way as quickly as possible because he could totally see the lights and hear the next train starting to come in.

Miles: "Gah! Ahhhhhh!" Miles started to scream, scrambling between the electricrified rails of the tracks.

Johnny: As an afterthought, he threw a carefully aimed ball of flame toward the thief, making sure it wasn't hot enough to damage him too badly but enough to stop him while he pulled the kid off the tracks. Cooling his hand, he pushed off the ground in the direction of the tracks, making a grab for the boy and quickly finding a maintenance hatch to squeeze into before they were both run over.

Miles: "OhmyGOD! OHmyGOD! DID YOU JUST SHOOT FIRE?! What did you DO! OH MY GOD ARE WE ALIVE?!"

Johnny: "Yes, and... Well, yes," Johnny answered with a sigh of relief as he eyed the stopped train. Now, they just had to wait for it to move... And, then he had to wait for another train...

Miles: "OhmyGOD!" Miles couldn't breathe. He couldn't think straight. He felt like he was getting tunnel vision. Then he realized he was getting tunnel vision. Ironically, while he was in a tunnel. "Oh man... Oh man... I'm having one of my panic attacks..." He started trying to breathe out of just his nose. It wasn't working.

Johnny: "Oh, please don't..." he replied, giving him a slightly horrified look. He had no idea what to do about panic attacks. Plus... "There's really not enough space right here for that..."

Miles: "I... *gasp* ... can't... *gasp*... Deal with this..."

Johnny: Why? Why did he have to be such a good person? Johnny shook him a little, "Dude, come on..."

Miles: "I... I don't get it! You were on fire! And... then he was! And he pushed me! HE PUSHED ME!" He was already breathing a little better and he even began to feel his tunnel vision alleviate itself.

Johnny: "Just my arm was on fire," he rolled his eyes, "This would be about a hundred times more awkward if it'd been all of me."

Miles: "What do you mean all of you?!" Miles shrieked, trying to back away but finding that difficult.

Johnny: Johnny considered showing, but then he'd need new clothing... "Well, y'know... The rest of me..." And, the train was pulling out. Awesome.

Miles: "What... are you?" He asked, feeling like he was repeating a line from a hammed up, cliché sci-fi thriller. Probably starring Nic Cage. Or The Rock.

Johnny: "A... person...?" he tried.

Miles: "Who lights on fire?" Miles asked accusingly. "The only people who do that are enemies of the mob, and it's not voluntary or..." Miles' hand covered his mouth. "OH SNAP, DAWG! You' one a' dem mutants!"

Johnny: "Yeah, that too," Johnny replied distractedly while he leaned out to make sure there wasn't another train coming. When he was sure it was safe to cross, he grabbed the kid and floated back over to the platform, ignoring the stares while looking around to see if the guy had been apprehended or not.

Miles: Some of the people just stared, bug-eyed at Johnny. One of them began to clap and a few followed suit. However; one older gentleman in the back stepped forward and pointed at Johnny. "Dirty mutant! You nearly killed the man and set us all on fire! Whaddyou think you are, some kind of hero!? That poor young man's coat and lord knows what else were burned!"

Miles: "So he was poor and a thief! Doesn't give you the right to incinerate someone! Who made you judge and jury?!" A few of the others agreed and started saying "yeah!" and "that's right!"

Miles: Miles's jaw dropped, stunned.

Johnny: Johnny cringed a little as the accusations started and let out a sigh, rolling his eyes a bit as he asked, "And, the woman's whose bag he was snatching...? I'm sure she needed whatever was in there..."

Miles: The woman was in the arms of another decent patron who had sought to her after she passed out when the ball of fire exploded from Johnny's hand. She was in a state of utter surprise, worse than Miles had been.

Miles: Miles looked to his supposed hero and then to the crowd. "Yo! Foo's! This man, ma boy -uh..." He whispered to Johnny, "w'that'cher name?"

Johnny: He blinked at the kid and raised an eyebrow, "Uh... Johnny..."

Miles: "Johnny! Ma homey, Johnny, here, just saved ma life! Man, this dude here just made sure I see the next few years of my life! I might not die a virgin now because of my man here! Screw you haters! Mutant or not, he's a DECENT CAT!"

Miles: Miles slapped Johnny on the back, hard.

Johnny: His face twisted a bit at the slapping, and he reached up to rub at his shoulder, shaking his head, "It really was no problem, dude..." Usually, he would've been for taking all the credit, but he didn't want to push his luck in a confined space while he was outnumbered by people that hated him... Not that he couldn't take them...

Miles: "No, no this guy here? Hero." Miles pointed to the group of nay-sayers, "And all y'all? Haters. Haters be hatin'..." He turned to Johnny. "Miles. Miles Morales. Thank you, dawg."

Johnny: "Thanks," he mumbled, offering his hand, "Johnny Storm."

Miles: "You one o' them X-Mens?"

Johnny: He looked around, biting down on his lip and nodding for Miles to follow him to the stairs, away from everyone that was likely listening. He didn't really want to announce that to the public. Plus, he didn't really want to wait for another train. Once they were away from the crowds, he slowly nodded, "Yep."

Miles: "Cool! I heard 'bout y'all on the news! You good people, y'know." The other witnesses were all watching the Miles and Johnny speak, chirping amongst themselves about the events, deciding whether or not they wanted to tell the local news stations.

Johnny: Johnny gave a bit of a shrug, "Well, we try..."

Miles: "Clearly! You all like... saved me an' shit." Miles realized this wasn't the most descriptive way of explaining the events, but it worked. For now. He was still getting over the star shock.

Johnny: "Well, yeah..." he replied with a nod.

Miles: "Awesome. I'm.. that's awesome. Okay, well... Dawg, I'll look you guys up sometime, I'll be there with a sign an' everything next time, y'know? Totally supportin' you guys. Thanks again... seriously. Like... My ma's gonna freak."

Johnny: "Well, uh, thanks..." Johnny gave a slight grin.